Remembering J. Medicine Hat

Comedian J. Medicine Hat has passed away. I didn't know J. Medicine Hat. I can't call him a friend. I can only recount the one night that I worked with him, and how it still stands out as a strangely memorable night in my comedy life.

To begin with, I had no idea who J. Medicine Hat was until I started doing stand-up comedy. As a new comedian in Columbus, I'd check out The Funny Bone's schedule and would often see J. Medicine Hat's name on it and this picture of him:

This headshot kind of scared me. Who was this mean looking guy who had to be quite a draw considering he worked several weekends out of the year in Columbus? I was told he was a hypnotist comedian. For some stand-up comedians, that probably left him open to criticism, but I've always been intrigued by hypnosis, so I checked out a show, and was part of a crowd that loved every minute of it.

I had the opportunity to open for J. Medicine Hat as a fill-in on some Saturday night shows at the Funny Bone. I got asked to do it the day of the show. It was a weird night for me. My girlfriend at the time and I had planned a date night. As a comedian, if I'm given an opportunity and I'm available to do it, I'm going to do it. I explained the situation to my girlfriend, she was understanding of it, and we spent our date night having drinks at the Funny Bone. It was made stranger because one of my best friends and his girlfriend came into town as well and met us up there. So, here I was, having a double date while also doing comedy at the same time. It was the first time that my personal social life came to a head with my comedy life on the same night. I juggled doing a few minutes of stage time in front of complete strangers with conversations with some of the closest people in my life in the bar area.

Besides conversations with my friends, I also had conversations with J. Medicine Hat. He was very kind. He was a fan of boxing. We talked about the Mayweather-Marquez fight, and our hope for Mayweather-Pacquiao, which still hasn't come to fruition. The most touching moment was when he was aware that my girlfriend was out in the bar area. He asked to meet her and was nothing but complimentary with both of us. It's all that you can ask for as an opener – to work with another comedian that's nice and, even better, with his experience and conversation, you are able to glean and learn more about comedy and the lifestyle that comes with it.

I guess I remember that night because I always reference it as one of the many reasons that my relationship with that girlfriend ended. I still have a difficult time juggling my personal life with what I want out of comedy. But, I also remember it equally for my interaction with J. Medicine Hat, and how highly opposite it was from whatever impression I may have gotten from his headshot. After that night, I looked at that headshot with even more intrigue. Simply put, J. Medicine Hat had decades of experience on stages, made tons of people laugh, was a constant draw that had his fans coming back every time he was in town, and was extremely nice to an opening act he had never met before and would never see again. There's not much more that you can ask from a comedian.

Rest in peace, J. Medicine Hat.